Sound-board for musical instruments



(No Model.)

A. SPRINGER. SOUND BOARD FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. No. 444,770. PatentedJan. 13, 1891.

Attest [nven tor fle ryfi npleo UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALFRED SPRINGER, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

SOUND-BOARD FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 444,770, dated January13, 1891.

Application filed April 26,1890. Serial No. 349,669. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ALFRED SPRINGER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio,have invented new and useful Improvements in Sound-Boards of MusicalInstruments, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to metallic soundboards of musical instruments ofthe class in which a sound-board is employed to re-enforce the initialtone produced by a vibrating string or other sound-producing body-such,for example, as instruments of the violin class. So far as attempts havebeen made to produce such structures of metal the analogy of woodinstruments has been followed in fitting together separate pieces anduniting them by rivets or solder. The general failure to producesatisfactory Soundboards of metal has been attributed to the imperfecttone-producing quality of the metals employed, a defect which I haveremedied by the employment of aluminum, as set forth in anotherapplication pending herewith; but it is also true that the resonantquality and power of such sound-boards, as,indeed, of all sound-boards,depends also upon the perfection of the union established between theseveral parts that constitute the sound board or boards and its or theirsupports or the sound-body.

My invention consists in a sound-board or sound-body formed complete asa homogeneous structure without contact-joints held together by solderor other extraneous means.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which-Figure l is a faccviewof a violin constructed according to myimprovements; Fig. 2, a longitudinal section of the same on the lineroof Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a plan view of a piano soundboard constructedaccording to my improvement, and Fig. 4 a longitudinal section of thesame on the line y of Fig. 3.

In the case of the violin A (shown in Figs. 1 and 2) the top or face a,side b, and bottom 0 are formed of sheet metal of suitable thick nesshammered or pressed to the proper contour and suitably fitted, and thecontactcontact-edges is impaired.

edges then united together by the process of electric welding, by whichthe contact-surfaces are fused together, thus bringing the wholestructure into homogeneity. The neck (I and other fixed parts may alsobe formed of metal and united in a similar manner. In the case of thepiano sound-board or sound-body B it is united to its marginal support 6(preferably a continuous bar of metal formed to the outer contour of thesound-board) in a similar manner, or, when two sound boards or bodiesare employed, making a box structure corresponding with the violin-body,both are united to the marginal support, as in the case of the violin.The advantages of such a'homogeneous structure are obvious, inasmuch asthe resonant capacity of the sound-boardlargely depends upon theaccurate fitting of the board upon its supports, whereby the strains dueto the string-tension are uniformly distributed and the vibrationsequalized and properly transmitted. A riveted structure necessarilyleaves spaces between the rivets without security, while a soldered orbrazed joint, even if perfectly secure, necessitates a filling in thejoining angles with extraneous metal, whereby the clean-cut integrity ofthe My improvement is applicable, moreover, where the ordinary processesof soldering are notviz., to steel and aluminum, and especially to thelatter metal, which is best adapted of all metals to the construction ofsound-boards, owing to its singularly perfect vibrating capacity in theproduction of true musical tones free from the higher upper partials. Asthe process of electro-welding involves heating only at the line ofcontact, due to the electrical resistance, which instantly ceases whenthe edges unite by fusion, the temper of the clastic metal is perfectlypreserved, whereas in soldering, and particularly in brazing, the

2. A sounding board or body for re-enforcmogeneous and Withoutcontact-joints, sub- 10 i ing the tone of a string or other initialtonestantially as set forth; i producing element, consisting ofsheet-metal In testimony whereof I have hereunto set plates welded tothe marginal or other supmy hand in the presence of two subscribing 5ports into a homogeneous structure Without witnesses.

extraneous fastening, substantially as set vALFRED SPRINGER. forth.W'itnesses:

3. In a musical stringed instrument; a me L. M. HOSEA, tallic soundingbox or body structurally 110- ELLA HOSEA.

